Electrically simulated football game apparatus



April 5, 1967 R. E. BUD/M 3,315,962

ELEGTRICALLY SIMULATED FOOTBALL GAME APPARATUS Filed Dec. 2,1963

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A 'I Y FIG. 2

INVENTOF? ROBERT E. BUDAI BY- w ATTORNEYS April 5, 1967 R. E. BUD, 3,315,962

ELECTRICALLY SIMULATED FOOTBALL GAME APPARATUS Filed Dec. 2, 1963 2 Sheets-$heet 2 FIG. 4

INVENTOR ROBERT E. BUDAI M ATTORNEYS broken away portion of the United States Patent 3,315,962 ELECTRICALLY SIMULATED FOOTBALL GAME APPARATUS Robert E. Budai, 727 Brant St., Burlington, Ontario, Canada Filed Dec. 2, 1963, Ser. No. 327,419 15 Claims. (Cl. 273-94) The present invention relates to an improved simulated game apparatus and more particularly to an electrically and mechanically operated football game which provides the opportunity for practising many of the exciting playmaking and defensive strategies of the actual game.

Heretofore in the art the playing of simulated football game devices has involved the use of cards, spinning dials, charts and other numerical and visual aids to develop and plot the game. The outcome of this particular type of game is dependent almost entirely on chance with the movement of the ball based on drawing of cards, reference to charts and reliance on other aids requiring use of little or no skill. Up to the present little success has been realized in simulating the forward pass, which is, of course, one of the most exciting aspects of the game. Football game devices which have utilized movable men have not successfully and satisfactorily included in the play of the game the use of the forward pass.

It has now been discovered that by a novel combination of mechanical elements and electrical elements and circuitry that a simulated football game can be provided which, without depending entirely on chance, can closely imitate the actually played game using running and passing plays with the utilization of simulated players and allowing the plotting of offensive and defensive strategic patterns.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simulated football game apparatus which closely resembles the actually played game. I

The invention also contemplates providing an improved game apparatus for playing football which substantially eliminates the effect of chance from the game and allows the participants in the game to practise many of the strategies relating to passing and ground plays.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a perspective view of a football game board showing the top and two sides of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal sectional view, partly broken, on line 22 of FIGURE 1 illustrating connections to a simulated offensive player;

FIGURE 3 shows a sectional view of a simulated defensive player as connected into the embodiment of the game shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 depicts a transverse sectional view online 4-4 of FIGURE 1 illustrating the arrangement of offensive and defensive players across the board;

FIGURE 5 illustrates diagrammatically the electrical connections for the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 6 is a transverse sectional view of a variation of the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 1 showing a board with simulated players arranged thereon.

Generally speaking the present invention relates to an improved electrically and mechanically operated football game mounted on and contained in a rectangular sup porting box, advantageously portable in nature. The upper surface of the football game or board has placed thereon a simulated football field with side lines, goal lines, dead lines, yard lines and goal posts. Through the upper surface of the board are situated a plurality of spaced apart longitudinal slots substantially parallel to the side lines and running the length of the field. Mounted in each slot and restrained therein but reciprocally movable therethrough are simulated players, arranged as offensiveand defensive players in alternate slots, with electric lamps connected to the offensive players. Also provided, independently of the slots and the slotted players, is an offensive quarterback player with a lamp connected thereto and supported on or over the playing board. Provision is made for plugging immovable defensive players into the slots in the board carrying the offensive players. Electrical and mechanical connections to the movable players and quarterback are provided under the board inside the box with mechanical and electrical manipulative devices situated along' the ends and the sides of the board. Each of the offensive and defensive players is attached to an electrically conductive wire strung between and running on pulleys at opposite ends of the board with the pulleys being manually operable by dial or crank devices on both ends of the board. With this arrangement movement of the players up and down the board can be controlled from either end. The ends of each electrically conductive wire are joined by a piece of insulating material preventing actual electrical contact between these ends.

Switching means are provided on the board for connection to a battery, preferably mounted on the board, of the quarterbacks lamp or either of the offensive players lamps from either end of the board depending on the direction of the play of the game, with the ignited lamp showing possession of the ball. Other 110. power sources may be utilized or normal A.C. sources may be used with rectifiers built into or supplied with the board to form DC. current. Included in the circuit are timing devices at either end by which a time interval can be selected in which the power is switched from the quarterback to one of the offensive players, equivalent to the quarterback transferring the ball to one of the players. Selection switches are also to be found at each end for determining which of the offensive players is to receive the ball. Another timing device can be included at each end to provide a different time interval for a simulated running play from the quarterback to an offensive player. Connected to all of the movable players are electrically conductive strips or rings of such Width that any one strip will touch the corresponding strip or ring on a player in an adjoining slot when the two players are at the same yard line On the field. Electrical connections from the defensive player back to the battery are such that the lamp lit on :any offensive player can be shorted out by contact with the strip of a defensive player. Shorting out of a light on an offensive player is equivalent to stoppage of the play. In the case of an attempted pass from the quarterback to an offensive player by the use of the timer and selection switch, and the offensive players lamp is shorted out by a defensive player before power is switched to the offensive player, the attempted pass would then be considered incomplete because the lamp does not light.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGURE 1 illustrates a particular embodiment of the playing apparatus of the invention with a football field and simulated players shown thereon. The actual playing field or board 1 is shown on the supporting their 2. The field is seen to be made up of yard lines 3,- goal lines 4 and side lines 5. Goal posts 6 are shown at each end of the field. The field is pierced by a series of spaced apart longitudinal slots 7 running parallel to the side lines of the field and substantially its entire length. Mounted and restrained in the slots are players 8 and ill with one such player being mounted in each slot. All of these players are reciprocally movable throughout the length of the field and players 8 have electric lamps 9 attached thereto with suitable electric wiring connected. The movable players are mechanically operated through dials by a wire and pulley device shown in detail in FIGURE 2. It is to be noted that players 8 with lamps 9 attached thereto are offensive players and that players 11 have no lamps attached thereto and are defensive players. The offensive and defensive player slots are placed alternately on the board. Players 8 and 11 may be made more realistic by having life-like figures attached thereto with electric lamps on players 8, resting in the players arms, if desired.

Referring to FIGURE 2, which shows an enlarged longitudinal sectional view on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 offensive player 8 with lamp 9 attached thereto is shown set in and reciprocally movable through slot 7 in field 1. Player 8 is attached to electrically conductive wire 12 which runs endlessly around pulleys 13 at each end of the board. The ends of electrically conductive wire 12 are attached together by insulator 14 which prevents electrical contact between the ends of the wire. Wire 12 is actually interrupted by and connected to terminals 15 on player 8 which are in turn connected by leads 16 to lamp 9. At the same time one of terminals 15 on the side away from insulator 14 is connected through lead 17 to metal strip 18 which is attached to the bottom of player 8. Pulleys 13 are seen to be attached to and rotated by dials 10 which project through the ends of supporting box 2. By rotating either of dials 10, player 8 can be moved through groove 7 up and down the board.

FIGURE 3 shows a defensive player 11 reciprocally movable in slot 7 but with no light or connections to a light associated therewith. Defensive players 11 are, however, movable in exactly the same way as offensive players 8 and electrically conductive wire 19 is shown attached to defensive player 11, with wire 19 running in a pulley at either end of the board in a manner similar to that associated with offensive players 8. A metal strip 20 connected to electrically conductive wire 19 by lead 21 is shown attached to the bottom of defensive player 11 on the side of the player away from the insulator connecting the ends of wire 19 together. FIGURE 4 shows a transverse sectional view through line 44 of FIG- URE 1 and illustrates offensive and defensive players sitting in slots 7. Thus, offensive players 8 are shown on board 1 with defensive players 11 therebetween. Lamps 9 are shown on the offensive players only. Eelectrically conductive wires 12 are depicted to which players 8 are attached and electrically conductive wires 19 to which players 11 are attached. Electrically conductive strips 18 and 20 are shown connected to the conductive wires on offensive players 8 and defensive players 11 respectively. Adjoining strips are seen to be overlapping at 22 to ensure contact between strips of adjoining players when they are situated at the same location in the field.

It is to be noted that although the embodiment of the invention which has been described in conjunction with FIGURES 1 to 4 inclusive has five longitudinal slots along the length of the playing field, more or less than five slots could be utilized in any one board with offensive or defensive players in the slots and operated by the type of mechanism described hereinbefore. In any case, as can be seen by FIGURES 1 and 4 offensive and defensive players are placed alternately in the slots across the field and, advantageously, the game is constructed with one more offensive players slot than the total of defensive players slots.

Referring again to FIGURE 1 it is to be noted that overhead support 23 carries lamps 24 and 25 which are connected by electrical wiring 26 through plugs 27 in the side of the box to wiring under the box which will be referred to hereinafter. Lamp 24- is attached to simulated quarterback member 28, which may have a life-like figure attached thereto, and at the start of any offensive play quarterback lamp 24 is lit to show possession of the ball. Lamp 25 is merely an indicating lamp to show pass deflection or a ground play stoppage by defensive players and this lamp also provides a load for the battery when other loads are shorted out. The operation of these lamps will be described in conjunction with the wiring diagram hereinafter. Although the quarterback and indicator lamps are shown on an overhead support they can, if desired, be plugged into one of the slots on the field behind the line of scrimmage in any particular play. By being supported overhead the quarterback and indicator lights can be moved to any convenient location on the field without having to actually unplug and plug in these lights into a different location on the field after each play. As described hereinafter, the current is switched by special timing and switching devices from the quarterback lamp to one of the offensive player lamps 9. Referring to FIG- URE 2 the current is transferred to conducting wire 12, by means of wiping contacts 39 which are attached to the circuit by wires 40. The current flows through lamp 9 by way of wires 16 connected to terminals 15 and wire 12. According to a desirable set of rules defensive players 41, shown in FIGURE 1, which are not connected to the electrical circuit can be plugged in a strategic location in the offensive players slots. By means of switch 42 shown in the side of the board in FIGURE 1 the circuitry can be changed so that the offensive players and defensive players can be operated at the opposite end of the board when the ball has changed hands. Switch device 43 and timing device 44 are shown at one end of the board with duplicate controls operated at the other end of the board. These switches and timing mechanisms are utilized to control the sequence of the play as described in conjunction with the wiring diagram hereinafter.

Provision is made for a kicking member for the offensive side to be utilized, if desired, when a sequence of downs has been played without yardage having been gained for a first down. The kicker is brought onto the field for kicking purposes only and has a pivoted foot operated by a lever with a small removable ball fitting into a recess of the foot. By flicking the foot the ball can be projected down the field to simulate a kick with play to commence in the opposite direction according to a set of rules, such as, from where the ball comes to rest or from where the ball has actually left the playing surface.

The electrical operation of the game will now be described in conjunction with FIGURE 5 which depicts a diagrammatic representation of the wiring associated with the football apparatus. The electrical system is operated advantageously by batttery or dry cells 45 which are attached underneath the playing field along with the other wiring associated with the apparatus. Alternatively, properly transformed or rectified A.C. current from household sources may be used. At the start of any play the offensive players are lined up along a line of scrimmage where the ball was last dead as illustrated in FIGURE 1 and the two movable defensive players are positioned wherever desired opposite the offensive players with, in the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1, two other plug-in defensive players located within a certain distance from the line of scrimmage according to a particular set of rules devised for the game. Assuming the offence to be travelling to the right and the defence to be operating to the left as shown in FIGURE 1, referring to FIGURE 5, switch 42 is turned to the left to allow the controlling switches and timers to be operated from the offensive or left end of the field. When offence is moving to the left and defence is operating to the right switch 42 is moved to its other, or right, loctaion in order to allow the timing and switching mechanisms to be operated from the offensive or right end of the field in this case. As can be seen from the wiring diagram, connections are the same from either the right end or the left end of the field.

At the beginning of a play timing switches 46 and 47 are not turned on and connections are made through terminal 48 from switch 42 through quarterback light 24 and back through terminal 50 to the battery 45. Thus the quarterback light is turned on at the commencement of any play, other than a kicking play. The offensive participant at the beginning of the play makes a selection as to Whether he will forward pass or move the ball along the ground and also can select which of the opposing players is to receive the ball. This is accomplished by timing switches 46 and 47 in timing mechanism 49 and selector switch 51. Timing switches 46 and 4 7 can be set so that the actual switching takes place at a different interval of time. Thus timing switch 46 can ,be set for a short interval and can represent the pass play and timing switch 47 can the set for a longer interval and can repre sent a running play. The offensive participant then selects which timing switch he wants to use and also selects the opposing player who is to receive the ball by means of selection switch 51 which can be connected to any one of the three opposing player lamps as shown on the wiring diagram. When, after the commencement of a play, the timing switch 46 or 47 has shifted the current to contact 52, assuming contact 54 has been selected on selection switch 51, the current flows through contact 54 and Wire 55 through wiper contact 56 and line 57 to offensive player lamp 58 and thence from lamp 58 through wiper contact 59 back to the battery. If contact 60 had been selected current would flow through wire 61, wiper contact 62, wire 63, offensive player lamp 64 and wiper 65 back to the battery. Terminal 53 depicts the off position of the timing switches. Further uncertainty could be instilled in the game by having a second or more settings in timing switches 46 and 47 to provide different time intervals for both passing and running plays. Running plays would of course be set up by transferring the ball to an offensive player behind the line of scrimmage, with such players lamp always on initially, and passing plays would mean transfer of the ball over the line of scrimmage.

The defending participant can take defensive measures against the attacking players by either physically stopping the attacking players by plug-in defensive men 41 shown in FIGURE 1, which have no electrical connections thereto and which are governed by certain rules of the game, or by utilizing electrically connected defensive players 11 which can be moved back and forth in their defensive player slots 17 shown in FIGURE 1. Referring to FIG- URE 5, defensive players 67 and 68 are shown between offensive players 58, 66 and 64. Offensive and defensive players alike have electrically conductive strips 69 and 70, respectively, attached thereto which provide electrical contact between adjoining players when the strips are touching. Thus, assuming the offensive participant has selected offensive player 64 to receive the ball, this players light will go on when the current has been switched from the quarterback to the circuit of this offensive player. However, if the defending participant has moved defensive player 63 so that its electrically conductive strip 70 is contacting strip 69 of offensive player 64, strip 70 of player 68 will short out the current from lamp 64 and this lamp will not go on. Sounding of the timer mechanism in connection with no lamp lighting on an offensive player downfield, assuming no offensive player has been selected for a running play behind the line of scrimmage, would indicate an incompleted pass. In this case rather than going through lamp 64 the current will pass from line 63 through the touching strips 69 and 70 in players 64 and 68, through line 71, wiping contact 72 and line 73 back to the battery. Similarly, defensive player 68 can short out lamp of offensive player 66 and defensive player 67 can short out the lamp of either of fensive player 66 or offensive player 58. If the defensive participant does not succeed in shorting out the light of an offensive player before the circuit is switched to such a player from the quarterback by the offensive participant and the light of this offensive player goes on, defensive participant can of course move one of his movable defensive players quickly to contact the offensive player whose light is on and who has received the ball and thereby short this light and stop play at this point on the board.

It is to be seen from the circuit in FIGURE 5 that lamp 25', referred to hereinbefore in connection with FIGURE 1, always has current passing therethrough. This lamp is of low resistance so that, as long as another lamp, such as quarterback lamp 24 or any of the offensive player lamps, are connected into the circuit, lamp 25 will burn with not more than a dull appearance. Once lamp 24 is switched out of the circuit and all offensive player lamps are shorted out of the circuit as aforedescribed, lamp 25 will burn more brilliantly so that it will serve not only as an indicator for an intercepted pass or running play but also as a load for the battery to prevent it from short-circuiting.

It can be seen that the present novel football device provides an endless series of combinations in selecting plays and setting up defenses which will tax the ingenuity of the participants and substantially reduce the element of chance from the game. Provision of four or more movable offensive players and three or more movable defensive players would, of course, require even more skill in manipulating the mechanical devices and planning the sequence of offensive and defensive patterns. Various rules can be associated with the game which approximate the rules associated with the game of football as played on an actual playing field. Thus, provisions can be made for kick-offs, choice of ends, changing of ends and num ber of length of periods, e.g., four periods of fifteen minutes each, as in the actual game of football. Scoring can be set up in the same way as actual football with six points for a touchdown and three points for a field goal and even one point for a conversion if it is desired to use the mechanical kicking device. Rules can also be set up for the kickoff with the defensive players a certain distance from where the ball is kicked and provision for the ball going over the goal line or the dead line or going out of bounds and also possibly with provision for the ball hitting one of the defensive players.

Certain rules can be associated with putting the ball into play from scrimmage and, although the present game device has been described primarily in conjunction with the game of football as played in the United States, variations in the configuration of the field and in the rules may be resorted to, in order to conform with the Canadian rules of the game. Thus the defensive side can be allowed to place plug-in, non-electrically connected tacklers into offensive players slots within certain distances of the line of scrimmage on the first down with these distances being progressively shortened for the second, third and fourth downs. These defensive rules can, of course, be varied according to agreement between the participants. The movable men can be used by the defensive participant to try to short out the lamp of the offensive player who has been selected to receive the ball by the offensive participant. Advantageously, ten yards should be gained in four consecutive downs or else the ball would change hands and the defensive participant would then become the offensive participant and would take over the offensive players in the opposite direction. If using kicking in the game, the offensive participant can elect to kick the ball on the fourth down in which case the ball would be scrimmaged by the then offensive participant in the opposite direction from where the ball had touched a defensive player or else had gone out of bounds or come to rest. As aforementioned, a forward pass is completed when the lamp on the quarterback goes out and the lamp on one of the three movable offensive players downfield goes on. When, on a forward pass, and after the timer has indicated the circuit to the selected offensive player should have been completed and one of the movable defensive players is touching the intended receiver, the lamp on the offensive player will not go on, as aforedescribed, and therefore the pass is not completed and the play must be taken over again from where it was cal conductor device on each of 7 last started. In such case, the pass interception lamp glows, as aforedescribed to give a positive indication of the pass interception. It is to be noted that this lamp is not a necessity and can be replaced by a simple resistor to provide a safety load for the battery or other power source.

As aforementioned, more reality may be injected into the game by using life-like figures to depict players. Thus, for example, an offensive line of scrimmage can be suspended from overhead support 23, shown in FIGURE 11, and FIGURE 6 illustrates a transverse sectional view of a broken away portion of the overhead support with a bro-ken away portion of the game board underneath. In this variation of the apparatus, quarterback 74 is shown suspended from overhead support 75 with lamp 76 attached and wire 77 connected thereto. Other life-like players are suspended from support 75 to represent the line of scrimmage, but with no lamps or electrical wiring attached, and figure 7-8 shows one of these players. Pass interception or running play stoppage lamp 79 is shown attached to support 75 with wire 80 connected. As aforementioned this lamp may be attached to other convenient locations in the board, such as in the playing field at the center field stripe while not interfering with the movable players. Wires 77 and 80 are connected into the wiring circuit located under the board and described in conjunction with FIGURE 5. Offensive and defensive players 81 and 82, respectively, are depicted in FIG- URE 6 with lamp 83 attached to offensive player 81. These players are movable in slots 84 by means of conducting wires 85 attached thereto and contacts 86 (which may be strips or rings) connected to the players are shown overlapping at 87.

Variations in the apparatus may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Thus, for example, the second timer 47 may be eliminated from the circuit and only one timing device 46 would be utilized while selecting the shorter time interval for pass plays and the longer time interval, if such is contained on the timing device, for running plays. On the other hand, the game might be played utilizing only passing plays for the offensive with a defending participant having to guess the time interval selected between the light would shift from the quarterback to the offensive players selected to receive the pass. Although the game has been described as being preferably portable in nature, there is nothing to prevent it being incorporated into a large, non-portable device for permanent installation in a game room or even for adaption into use as a pinball machine device.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An electrically and mechanically operated football game comprising a simulated football field on the upper surface of a supporting box, a plurality of spaced apart longitudinal slots in said field through the upper surface of said box, a simulated player mounted in each of said :slots and reciprocally movable through substantially the entire length thereof, said slots containing offensive and defensive players arranged alternately in the slots, each of said offensive players having an electric lamp atached thereto, a simulated quarterback player attached to the box with an electric lamp connected thereto, control means for each movable player at both ends of the box attached to and reciprocally controlling the movement of each player, a power source for said game, electric wiring from said power source through control switches at both ends of the box to said offensive player lamps and said quarterback lamp, said control switches providing means at each end for directing current through said quaterback lamp alone and for directing current through any selected one of said offensive player lamps alone, and an electrisaid offensive and defensive players adapted to touch the conductor of a player in corresponding position in an adjacent slot, said electric wiring also connected to said electrical conductor devices with the connections to the conductor devices be- 8 ing adapted to short out any one of said offensive player lamps upon contact between the conductors of a defensive player and said one offensive player.

2. A football game as claimed in claim 1 wherein a timing device is associated with the means for directing current through any selected one of the offensive player lamps.

3. A football game as claimed in claim 1 wherein a separate switch is situated on the box for selecting the end from which the quarterback lamp and offensive player lamps can be controlled.

4. A football game as claimed in claim 1 wherein the field contains one more offensive player slot than the total of defensive player slots.

5. A football game as claimed in claim 1 wherein a separate lamp, apart from and with resistance lower than any one of said quarterback and offensive player lamps, is always connected to the power source to provide both a safety load for the power source and a visual indication of the shorting out of an offensive player lamp..

6. An electrically and mechanically operated football game comprising a simulated football field on the upper surface of a supporting box, a plurality of .spaced apart longitudinal slots in said field through the upper surface of said box, a simulated player mounted in each of said slots and reciprocally movable through substantially the entire length thereof by means of a wire associated with each slot suspended on pulleys at each end of the box with the player attached thereto, each said wire being electrically conductive and said slots containing offensive and defensive players arranged alternately in the slots, each of .said offensive players having an electric lamp attached thereto, a simulated quarterback player attached to the box with an electric lamp connected thereto, control means for each movable player at both ends of the box attached to and reciprocally controlling the movement of each player, a power source for said game, electric wiring from said power source through control switches at both ends of the box to said quarterback lamp and by way of the electrically conductive wires through wiping contacts to said offensive player lamps, said control switches providing means at each end for directing current through said quarterback lamp alone and for transferring current from the quarterback lamp to and through any selected one of said offensive player lamps alone, a timer mechanism associated with the means for transferring current from the quarterback lamp, a separate switch on the box for selecting the end from which the quarterback lamp and the offensive player lamps can be controled, an electrical conductor device on each of said offensive and defensive players adapted to touch the conductor of a player in corresponding position in an adjacent slot, said electric wiring also connected to said electrical conductor devices by way of said electrically conductive wires and said wiping contacts, with the connections to the conductor devices being adapted to short out any one of said offensive player lamps upon contact between the conductors of a defensive player and said one offensive player, and a load separate from said lamps always connected to the power source.

7. A football game as claimed in claim 6 wherein the power source is at least one battery associated with the game.

8. A football game as claimed in claim 6 wherein the quarterback player is mounted on an overhead support attachable to any location on the field.

9. A football game as claimed in claim 6 wherein the players are simulated to resemble actual football players and at least one such simulated player with no wiring thereto is attached to the overhead support with the quarterback player.

10. A football game as claimed in claim 6 wherein removable defensive players are utilized for inserting in selected slots of offensive players.

11. A football game as claimed in claim 6 wherein Sit the field contains one more offensive player .slot than the total of the defensive player slots.

12. A football game as claimed in claim 6 wherein the conductor device on each player is a flexible metal strip.

13. An electrically and mechanically operated portable football game comprising a simulated football field on the upper surface of a supporting box, a plurality of spaced apart longitudinal slots in said field through the upper surface of said box, a player simulated to resemble an actual football player mounted in each of said slots and reciprocally movable through substantially the entire length thereof by means of a wire associated with each slot suspended on pulleys at each end of the box with the player attached thereto, each said wire being electrically conductive and said slots containing offensive and defensive players arranged alternately in the slots, there being one more offensive player slot than the total of defensive player slots, each of said offensive players having an electric lamp attached thereto, removable defensive players for inserting in selected slots of offensive players, a simulated quarterback player, with an electric lamp connected thereto and mounted on an overhead suport attachable to any location over the said field, control means for each movable player at both ends of the box attached to and reciprocally controlling the movement of each player, a power source for said game, electric wiring from said power source through control switches at both ends of the box to said quarterback lamp and by way of the electrically conductive wires through wiping contacts to said offensive player lamps, said con trol switches providing means at each end for directing current through said quarterback lamp alone and for directing current through any selected one of said offensive player lamps alone, at least one timer mechanism, with at least one selectable time interval thereon, associated with the means for transferring current from the quarterback lamp, a separate switch on the box for selecting the end from which the quarterback lamp and the offensive player lamps can be controlled, an electrical conductor device comprising a flexible strip on each of said offensive and defensive players adapted to touch the conductor of a player in corresponding position in an adjacent slot, said electric Wiring also connected to said electrical conductor devices by Way of said electrically conductive wires and said wiping contacts, with the connections to the conductor devices being adapted to short out any one of said offensive player lamps upon contact between the conductors of a defensive player and said one offensive player, and a separate lamp, apart from and with a resistance lower than any of said quarterback and said offensive player lamps, always connected to the power source to provide both a safety load for the power source and a visual indication of the shorting out of an offensive player lamp.

14. A portable football game as claimed in claim 13 wherein the power source is at least one battery associated with the game.

15. A portable football game as claimed in claim 13 wherein at least one player simulated to resemble an actual football player, other than the quarterback player, is attached to the overhead support.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,523,684 1/1925 Canale et al 273-94 2,052,035 8/1936 Potter 27394 2,089,726 8/1937 Bjorklund 273-94 2,148,354 2/1939 Hurlock 273-94 2,780,461 2/1957 Ryan 2'73-94 3,046,015 7/1962 Schuh et al. 273-94 RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner. ANTON O. OECHSLE, Examiner. 

1. AN ELECTRICALLY AND MECHANICALLY OPERATED FOOTBALL GAME COMPRISING A SIMULATED FOOTBALL FIELD ON THE UPPER SURFACE OF A SUPPORTING BOX, A PLURALITY OF SPACED APART LONGITUDINAL SLOTS IN SAID FIELD THROUGH THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID BOX, A SIMULATED PLAYER MOUNTED IN EACH OF SAID SLOTS AND RECIPROCALLY MOVABLE THROUGH SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE LENGTH THEREOF, SAID SLOTS CONTAINING OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE PLAYERS ARRANGED ALTERNATELY IN THE SLOTS, EACH OF SAID OFFENSIVE PLAYERS HAVING AN ELECTRIC LAMP ATTACHED THERETO, A SIMULATED QUARTERBACK PLAYER ATTACHED TO THE BOX WITH AN ELECTRIC LAMP CONNECTED THERETO, CONTROL MEANS FOR EACH MOVABLE PLAYER AT BOTH ENDS OF THE BOX ATTACHED TO AND RECIPROCALLY CONTROLLING THE MOVEMENT OF EACH PLAYER, A POWER SOURCE FOR SAID GAME, ELECTRIC WIRING FROM SAID POWER SOURCE THROUGH CONTROL SWITCHES AT BOTH ENDS OF THE BOX TO SAID OFFENSIVE PLAYER LAMPS AND SAID QUARTERBACK LAMP, SAID CONTROL SWITCHES PROVIDING MEANS AT EACH END FOR DIRECTING CURRENT THROUGH SAID QUARTERBACK LAMP ALONE AND FOR DIRECTING CURRENT THROUGH ANY SELECTED ONE OF SAID OFFENSIVE PLAYERS LAMPS ALONE, AND AN ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOR DEVICE ON EACH OF SAID OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE PLAYERS ADAPTED TO TOUCH THE CONDUCTOR OF A PLAYER IN CORRESPONDING POSITION IN AN ADJACENT SLOT, SAID ELECTRIC WIRING ALSO CONNECTED TO SAID ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOR DEVICES WITH THE CONNECTIONS TO THE CONDUCTOR DEVICES BEING ADAPTED TO SHORT OUT ANY ONE OF SAID OFFENSIVE PLAYER LAMPS UPON CONTACT BETWEEN THE CONDUCTORS OF A DEFENSIVE PLAYER AND SAID ONE OFFENSIVE PLAYER. 